


So What Happens Now?

by jules171



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Growing Up, Implied Rose Quartz/Greg Universe, Implied Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe), Past Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Resolution, loose ends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27749596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jules171/pseuds/jules171
Summary: This is my idea of what happened between the end of Season 5 and The Movie. Basically, Steven has to deal with  backlash from humans regarding gem integration on Earth, help the Diamonds dismantle the empire -since they've been doing a terrible job on their own- all while helping everyone cope with the harrowing realization that Pink Diamond faked an entire war.In terms of tone, I am doing my best to mimic that of the show, albiet maybe a tinge more serious. Just don't expect anything super angsty.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. How Many Gems Does it Take to Rob a Store?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic! I'm honestly just here to have fun, but I also want to do at least a decent job. So please give me feedback.

A soft, familiar mattress. A shelf lined with pictures and knick-knacks gathered over the years. Waves crashing onto the sand. The sound of seagulls cawing in the sky.

Home.

Steven was home.

After getting ready for the day, Steven headed outside. His dad’s van was parked on the sand. Ever since Steven had returned from Homeworld, his dad insisted on spending the nights by the house. Steven didn’t complain; it was nice to be near him again.

“Daaaaad!” Steven yelled as he ran towards his father.

“Hey, kiddo! I was just getting some stuff together for Sadie’s next show. Wanna help me untangle these wires?” Greg held up a giant ball of red, black, and blue wires.

“Uhh, I think I’ll pass. I’m heading to the Big Donut for breakfast. Do you want anything?” Steven asked.

“Yeah, sure. Grab me a powdered donut.”

“On it!”

As Steven walked towards the town, he made an effort to take in his surroundings.

“Hey Mr. Dewey. Can I have one glazed and one powdered donut?” He asked.

“You got it!” He responded.

_Good thing he's over his whole ‘naming-every-pastry-after-himself’ phase._

As Steven walked out with his donuts, he took a deep breath and looked at the ocean before heading back towards the van.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing.

It was Pearl.

Strange. She didn’t use her phone very often.

He answered.

“Steven!” Pearl exclaimed. She sounded nervous.

“Pearl? What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Some gems called me from the police station. They’ve been arrested.”

“What!? For what?”

“Shoplifting.”

“Oh no.”

“I need you to go there now. I would but one of the corrupted gems regenerated before we could get them into the fountain.” Pearl explained.

Steven could hear Amethyst’s whip snap in the background.

“No worries. I’m on my way.”

Steven hung up and looked around. He had no idea where the police station even was.

_Maybe Lion could take me? No, he's was with Connie right now._

He called Connie. No answer.

 _Shoot_.

He’d have to get his dad to drive him.

“Daaaaaad!” Steven yelled.

“What’s up?” Greg answered. Steven was out of breath.

_Why is it so much harder to run on sand?_

“I need… to go… to the police station…” He said.

“Woah, slow down there. What’s going on?” Greg asked.

“Some of the gems got arrested. I need to go get them.” Steven explained.

“Oh, wow. Okay, uh, help me get this stuff into the van.” Greg and Steven rushed to pack everything up.

“Do you know how to get there?” Steven asked.

“Yeah. I’ve- uh- been there before. That’s a story for another day, though.”

Steven stared at his dad for a moment before remembering why he had been walking to the van in the first place.

“Oh, yeah, here’s your donut!”

Once they were parked, Steven jumped out of the car and ran into the station. The door was a lot lighter than he had expected- swinging open and slamming against the wall.

Steven gasped.

“I’m so sorry.” He ran up to the front desk.

“Hi, my name is Steven Universe. I’m here for…” He didn’t know which gems they were; Pearl hadn’t told him. “uh… the gems?”

“You mean those colorful people?” The receptionist asked him.

Steven thought for a moment. "Um… yes?”

“Come on in.” Steven was taken to the back where two gems, a Larimar and a Ruby, were sitting in a holding cell guarded by two police officers.

“What in the world happened!?” He exclaimed.

Apparently, the officers had been planning on releasing the gems with a warning, but when the Larimar pulled out an entire pool chair from their gem, they demanded answers the gems didn’t know how to give, leading to their arrestment. So they called Pearl, who then called Steven, leaving him to explain everything.

“...these are gems… they are not human… those so-called ‘rabid animals’ that show up on the news sometimes? Yeah, those are what they used to be… they do not understand human money... I’m sorry. I’ll pay for anything they took.” The officers were in disbelief, but ultimately agreed to let them go. Besides making a mental note to teach the gems about human laws, Steven had left thinking that was the end of it.

The next day, government officials were knocking on his door.

“Hi?” He answered.

They asked to come in.

So there Steven was, giving another explanation for who and what the gems were, opting to leave out the parts where they had tried to destroy the planet.

“I know this must be really confusing for you. I mean, it took 14 years for me to fully understand what the gems are, and I’m already half-gem!” He joked.

There was a long silence.

The man took off his glasses and began cleaning the lenses with his shirt. “Actually, we’re not as surprised as you’d think. There’s always been some strange things happening in this area. We just never had an explanation.”

He paused.

“I’m sorry, but this is much bigger than we thought. If these gems are going to live on Earth, the government is going to need to know.”

Greg spoke up. “Wh-Wha- What do you mean? Is he gonna have to talk to the president or something?”

“We don’t know exactly, but this is certainly out of our depth. You do realize you’ve essentially revealed to us that an intelligent alien species is currently integrating into human society?”

Steven had never thought of it like that. Sure, he knew the gems weren’t human, but they were still, well, people.

“Don’t worry about it now. We’ll figure out the details and let you know how things will go.”

“Oh-okay.” Greg responded. The man stood up, followed by his two guards. “Thank you for your time.”

“N-no problem.” Greg responded. Steven just stared at the men as they walked towards the door. His dad gave him a light nudge.

“Of course, no worries. I’ll help in any way I can.” Steven blurted out before the door could close behind them.

“Woah.” Greg said.

They watched as their visitors drove around the hill and out of sight.

“Yeah... Maybe I should come up with a script or something. I have a feeling I’m going to have to explain things more than once.” Steven said.

“I would offer to help, but I don’t think I’m the right person for the job. You should ask Pearl.” Greg responded.

“I’ll go get my stuff to spend the night on the couch. I don’t want those guys whisking you off to the capitol in the middle of the night!” He added.

Steven was looking at the floor. “Thanks, dad.” He responded.

Steven opened his door to the temple and slid down to the basement where he had told the gems to wait.

“Steven!” Pearl rushed over to him.

“What did they want?” She asked.

“They wanted to know about, well, gem stuff. And now that they know gems are gonna be living here, they think I should talk to the president- well, maybe.”

“Wha?” Amethyst looked at Garnet.

Steven didn’t know a lot about human government. Of course, he knew they had one- he’d seen police officers in real life and gathered some basic information from movies and books- but overall, he didn’t know a lot. Was the man he just talked to a detective? No, he seemed dressed too fancy for that.

“Well, I guess this was inevitable. It just- hmm.” Pearl stopped to think.

“So what do they want you to do?” Amethyst asked.

“They said they’ll let me know soon. To be honest, I don’t think _they_ even know what to do.” Steven replied.

“Well… this is quite unprecedented. After all, humans have only recently established complex systems of government. We’ll help you however we can!” Pearl replied.

“Well… I was thinking about making a script. Ya know, so it’s easier for me to explain everything.” He replied.

Garnet spoke up. “Yes. That’s a great idea. Let’s head back to the house so we can get started.”


	2. To the Capitol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven prepares to explain himself to the president of the US.

“So I think it’d be best to leave out the whole colonization thing. And the cluster. And the rebellion. And the diamond attack.” Steven paused. 

“All they really need to know is what gems are and how a bunch of them suddenly appeared.”

“Alright, well, we can start with that, but if you tell them the new gems used to be corrupted, then you’ll have to mention the diamond attack.” Pearl responded. 

“Hmm… okay, I guess I’ll have to tell them about that. But then they’re gonna ask why the diamonds attacked in the first place. So then I’ll have to explain the rebellion.” 

“And then you’ll have to explain why the rebellion happened in the first place, which means you’ll have to explain colonization.” Pearl added. 

“I guess the cluster is the only thing I can really leave out.” Steven responded, his eyes drawn to the floor. 

Pearl noticed his change in mood.

“Well, maybe you can just start with the basics. If they ask any follow-up questions, then you can elaborate. If not, then you don’t have to say anything else.”

_______

Greg got a call that night. “Hello?” 

After a few moments, a voice on the other line spoke up. “Mr. Universe. We would like to inform you that your son’s presence is requested at the capitol as soon as possible. We will be sending a helicopter to your residence soon. You may come with your son.”

“Oh- uh- um- I don’t know if he can explain everything by himself, could some of the gems come?” Greg asked. 

“No. Please gather any necessary items.” The man hung up. Greg stared at the sand in shock.

_ How had everything gotten so big so quickly? _

“Steven! Get your things, they’re gonna pick us up soon!” Greg shouted as he swung the front door of the beach house open. 

“What? Already?” Steven responded. 

“Don’t worry, Steven. I’ll help you pack your things.” Pearl added, hoping it would calm Steven down.

A helicopter showed up about 20 minutes later. “Alright, let’s go.” 

Said Garnet. “Um… I may have forgotten to mention that they don- they only want Steven there. I can go, though, because he’s a minor and I’m his dad.” 

“What? No. Of course we’re going. This is a gem-related endeavor and we’re gems.” Pearl responded as she began walking towards the door. 

Garnet grabbed Pearl’s arm. “It’s fine. Greg will be with Steven.” She turned towards Steven. “We’ll warp as close as we can to the capitol. If they want us, give Pearl a call and we’ll be there.” Garnet added, nudging the group towards the warp pad. 

“Aww man. I wanted to go. I heard the White House has a toilet made out of gold!” Amethyst added. Steven chuckled. He ran over to give the gems a hug before he left.

_______

The ride was only a couple hours long, but to Steven, it felt like a lot longer. He knew there was no way the president could be more intimidating than White Diamond. But there was more to it. It had only been two weeks since he had gotten back from Homeworld. He didn’t think he would have to deal with anything like this again, which he realized was a bit naive on his part. Of course the government was going to get curious about the gems. He just wished it hadn’t been so soon. He thought about the script he made with Pearl. 

_ Colonization, rebellion, corruption, redemption.  _

_ Colonization, rebellion, corruption, redemption.  _

_ Colonization, rebellion, corrup- goodness, the gems sound awful.  _

No matter how he tried to spin the story or emphasize the redemption part of it all, it just sounded bad. 

The next morning, Steven and his dad went to the hotel restaurant, where they got breakfast. Steven was having trouble eating, but knew he had a long day ahead of him, so he tried his best to get at least something in his system.

Why was he so nervous about today? Human government paled in comparison to what he had seen. The gem empire was much more intimidating. Gem technology was much more complicated. Gem society was much more rigid. The diamonds- White diamond was much more terrifying. 

And then it hit him. 

He had spent his whole life trying to empathize with gems and how they viewed the Earth. 

For the first time he was being asked to empathize with humans and how they would view the gems.


	3. It Sounded Better in My Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven comes to learn that humans don't like the gems nearly as much as he does.

From their hotel, a car took them to the White House. Steven looked around at the lush lawn and neatly trimmed bushes. There were way more flowers than he had expected. The whole place looked so inviting. As they walked through the place, Steven marveled at its intricacies. Marble floors, tall ceilings, huge chandeliers- he forgot that humans could make places like these too.

It was hard for him to tell if that observation was impressive or intimidating.

“I never thought I’d step foot in a place  _ this  _ fancy.” Greg joked. Steven laughed.

“Right this way.” One of the guards gestured towards a room with a large, circular table. Steven walked in, with Greg following. 

The guard stopped him. “I’m sorry, sir, I’m afraid you won’t be able to go inside.” 

“But, I-” Greg began to argue. 

“It’s okay, dad. I’ll be fine.” Steven interjected. 

Greg nodded. After all, he had let his son travel to outer space by himself before. 

Steven walked through the door, the room falling silent almost immediately. 

“Good morning, Mr. Universe.” 

Steven swallowed.

Steven’s name was called. Why he needed to stand for that, he didn’t know, but everyone else had when they introduced themselves, so he did the same. 

“Good morning. My name is Steven Universe. I am half-human. I am also half-gem.” Steven summoned his shield. Everyone in the room jumped back. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you all. I just- I look very human. People don’t always believe me when I say I’m a gem too.” He got rid of his shield. 

The room settled down.

A woman spoke up. “Mr. Universe, we have prepared a series of questions for you. This conversation will be recorded.”

“First of all, do you recognize this place?” 

“So the gems are-” Steven stopped himself once he realized the woman’s question was not what he had been expecting. She slid a photo over to him. 

“Oh yeah, that’s the prime kindergarten.” Steven answered. 

“And this place?” The woman slid over another photo. 

“That’s the beta kindergarten.” 

“And this place?” She slid him another photo. 

“That’s the lunar sea spire. Well, it was, anyways.” 

“What about these places?” She handed him a folder.

He flipped through the pictures inside. “Sky Arena.” “Pink Diamond’s palanquin.” “Galaxy Warp”. “I’m not sure what this one is, to be honest.” He held up an image of a large underwater structure shaped like a clam shell. 

As Steven sifted through the images, naming most of them with ease, the room filled with whispers. 

The woman cleared her throat. “Thank you, Steven. We have another folder for you.” She handed over another folder.

Steven opened it up. He couldn’t recognize every single image, but he could still tell what was in them. 

“These are corrupted gems. These are what most of the gems in Beach City used to look like.” Again, the room filled with whispers. Steven’s eyes darted around the room in confusion. The woman noticed. 

“We apologize, Mr. Universe. It’s just that we’ve found these places- these creatures- that we could never explain. Now it’s finally coming together.” 

“That’s alright. This must be very confusing for you all.” Steven responded.

“So what are gems?” The woman asked. 

Now  _ this _ , Steven was prepared for. 

“Gems are a sentient mineral-based species originating from a planet known to the gems as ‘Homeworld’ about 65,000 light-years from Earth.”

“And how come so many of these ‘gems’ are now on Earth?” The woman added. 

“Those pictures of those creatures you showed me, well, they used to be gems, but they were corrupted, which is like getting sick, but for gems. They lose their sense of self and turn into well, those things.” Steven pointed to one of the images. “I found a way to cure them, though, so now they look like normal gems again. Well, almost.” 

“And how did they get on Earth to begin with?” Here came the hard questions. 

“Well, they’ve sort of always been here.” 

Murmurs arose. 

“Are you implying that they’re also native to our planet?” The woman asked, confused. 

“N-no. Sorry. No. They came to Earth about 7,000 years ago. They’ve been here ever since.” Steven clarified.

“Why did they come here? How were they corrupted?” She asked. 

Steven looked down. 

“Well, uh. The gems operate within an empire. The empire has been expanding outside of their home planet for thousands of years now, looking for other planets. Earth was one of those planets. They were going to use Earth for resource collection, but some of the gems believed that it would harm the life already present on Earth, so they decided to fight against the empire’s choices. The empire was governed by the four Diamonds at the time, with resource collection on Earth being managed by Pink Diamond. The rebellion escalated to the point of a full-on war between the rebels and Pink Diamond’s forces. Eventually Pink Diamond’s life was taken, causing the other Diamonds to launch an attack against the Earth as a whole to terminate the rebellion once and for all. Some gems survived, like my mom, but most were corrupted by the attack. The empire left the Earth alone after that.” Steven had left out the whole double-identity thing with his mom. The less complicated he could make the story, the better off they would be. 

The room was silent, leaving only the sound of one person aggressively typing on a computer. 

“Thank you. Mr. Universe.” The woman replied, softly. “So, you stated that you cured them. When and how did that happen?” The woman asked. 

“About three weeks ago, I went to the gem’s home planet and convinced their leaders, the Diamonds, to come to Earth and help heal the corrupted gems. They have abilities that transcend normal gems’ powers.” Steven explained.

“Powers!? What do you mean powers!?” One man aggressively questioned. 

It was at this moment that Steven picked up on the tension in the room. 

“Well, uh, the gems are made of light, which gives them special abilities. They can shape-shift. They can also fuse- which is like this thing where two or more gems combine to make a new type of gem. They can regenerate a new body if their old bodies get too damaged. Some can also store things inside their gems.” He explained.

No one spoke for several minutes.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t allow these gems to reside on our planet.” The president spoke up.

“What? No! The gems are good. They won’t hurt the Earth.” Steven pleaded. 

“It doesn’t matter. They’re a threat. If some of them start settling here, then more will come, and we can’t afford that.” He stated. 

“No! Don’t worry! Most of them live on other planets. Most of them  _ want _ to live on other planets! And even when they’re here, they won’t cause any trouble. They won’t be a burden at all! They don’t need food or shelter or anything like that.” Steven argued. 

The room’s energy shifted from one of cold concern to genuine anxiety.

“They don’t need sustenance?” Someone asked. 

“Well, no. They get their energy from their gems, which I think get energy from light? Kind of like plants? I’m not totally sure how that works to be honest. They do need rest sometimes, though.” 

Everyone seemed uneasy.

“Steven. You’ll need to tell these gems to leave the Earth or we will have to take action. Meeting adjourned.” The president pounded a gavel on the table. 

“Wh-what? No! You’re not getting it! The gems are nice! They won’t hurt anyone!” Steven pleaded as an officer escorted him out of the room. The door closed behind him. Steven felt tears welling up in his eyes. Greg saw him from the end of the hall. 

“Steven! What happened?” Steven didn’t know if he was allowed to share  _ everything  _ with his dad, but they hadn’t told him outright  _ not  _ to. 

“Well, I think they’re scared of the gems. They want me to tell the gems to leave or they’re gonna do something.” At this point, tears were rolling down Steven’s face. “I don’t know what to do.” 

Greg hugged his son. This is exactly what he had feared.


	4. But We're Nice!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven looks for a way to convince the US government to let the gems stay.

When Greg and Rose were together, Rose didn’t talk much about her past. Greg was okay with that. Knowing the gems personally, he didn’t see them as a threat. He knew they were powerful, but he saw their devotion to protecting the Earth and humans, even if Rose was the only one who actually bothered to get to know those things personally. But there were more gems now. Gems that  _ didn’t  _ have such personal devotion to this planet. Again, he didn’t think any of them would hurt the Earth, but they could. Very easily, they could.

“Let’s go back to the hotel room.”

By the time they had gotten back to the hotel, Steven had calmed down. They went up to the room and decided to order room service for lunch. Steven didn’t want to sit in public with his face all red and puffy. As they ate their food, Greg spoke up. 

“I know you’re upset, but we need to think about your next step.” 

“I don’t want the gems to leave! I like them here! I- I need them here!” Steven started tearing up again. 

“I’m not sure what the president meant when he said he would ‘do something’, but I’m assuming the worst. Steven-” Greg paused. “They might declare war against the gems.” 

“No. I just need to convince them that the gems are good. Maybe if they meet them, they’ll feel better. I’m gonna call Pearl and tell her what happened.” 

Greg sighed.

Around 2 o’clock, Steven was called back for another meeting. “We’re calling a summit with the United Nations Security Council. You’ll need to be there. The gem’s may only be in our nation as of right now, but this is still an issue that concerns the human race as a whole.” Steven gritted his teeth. 

He wanted to ask if the gems could come, but it was better not to, at least not right now. 

“When is it?”

One week later, Steven was on his way to Empire City. He had no idea this was where such important meetings were held; it was only a few hours away from his home. As he walked in, he saw a group of people in fancy suits with accessories flaunting their respective nation’s colors. Steven was guided to a chair next to a podium. The woman from the first meeting was sitting next to him. Steven was visibly nervous.

“I’m going to be the mediator for this summit. I want you to tell them everything you told us at our first meeting. Don’t leave anything out. Once you’re finished, the floor will be opened to questions. I will call on the delegates as I see fit when that happens.” She explained.

“O-Okay.” Steven responded. 

“Also, it would be best if you didn’t pull out a shield this time.” She added.

Once everyone was seated, the woman stood up and began roll-call. All 15 nations were present. As she made some sort of opening statement, Steven began to drift off.  _ Was there anything he could say to make this better?  _

There had been a lot of questions. Some he didn’t know the answers to. They asked about the purposes of specific gem locations. They asked for details about how gems got their energy. They asked about the behaviors of corrupted gems. They asked, and they asked, and they asked. Finally, Steven was allowed to take a seat again. The mediator stood up. A moderated caucus was opened. Steven was escorted out of the room as it began. He turned around to look at the mediator. 

“Wait-what? Why can’t I stay? I’m the one who actually knows stuff about the gems!” No one responded.

Greg was outside sitting on a bench. “So how did it go?” He asked. 

“They had a lot of questions. The meeting isn’t even over. They just kicked me out.” Steven responded. “I-I don’t think they trust me.” 

Greg wasn’t surprised by this. 

“I think this is my best opportunity to get the gems.” Steven added.

“NO!” Greg shouted. 

Steven was startled. 

“Steven, I- I don’t think that’s a very good idea. From what you’ve told me, they already seem on edge.” Greg responded. 

“But why? The gems are nice. They saved the Earth! I’m sure if they met th-” 

“No. Steven. They won’t. They don’t know the gems like you and I do.” Greg interrupted. 

“Exactly! That’s why I should bring them!” 

Greg sighed. 

His son was so optimistic it hurt.

“Steven, from their perspective, the gems are a threat. No, they don’t want to hurt the Earth. But they can. And that’s enough to make them afraid.” Greg explained. 

“That’s ridiculous! Anyone  _ can  _ hurt me when I’m walking down the boardwalk, but you don’t see me locking myself in at home, because that’s a ridiculous way to see people!” Steven argued.

Greg didn’t want to explain it this way. He didn’t even want to  _ think  _ about it this way. But it needed to be said.

“Steven, the gems live much longer than humans. They don’t get sick, they don’t get weaker as they age. They can pull out weapons from their gems at a moment’s notice. They can make a new body if they get hurt. Their society- their technology is much more advanced than ours.” 

Greg paused and looked at the floor. 

“We’re at their mercy, Steven. We’ve always been.” He finished.

Steven hated hearing those words. 

“Are you serious? So you want the gems to leave too!?” He shouted. 

“No! No! Not at all! I’m just trying to get you to see their perspective.” Greg added. 

“Well- so- what am I supposed to do now! I am  _ not  _ telling the gems to leave.” Steven crossed his arms and slumped onto the bench. 

Greg thought about it. “Well, what if we made a video?”

“What?” Steven looked up at his dad.

“Like a video with the gems. I think bringing them in person would be too much, but maybe a video would be okay. They could introduce themselves and talk a little more about what happened in Beach City.” Greg elaborated. 

Steven hesitated before responding.

“That’s a really good idea, actually!” Steven perked up. “Let’s go see the gems.”


	5. Hard Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven tries to convince the UN Security Council to let the gems stay.

After calling Pearl, Steven and Greg met up with them near the outskirts of the city, in a quiet metropark.

“So… I’m going to be honest. Things haven’t been going too well. They want you all to leave. Well, at least this country does. I’m not sure what the others think.” Steven explained. 

Pearl laughed. “That’s preposterous. We’ve been here since before man even developed civilization.” 

“Yeah, there’s no way we’re leaving. I was born here just as much as they were!” Amethyst added. 

“I don’t think they’re going to accept that sort of explanation.” Greg responded. 

“We’re not leaving.” Said Garnet. 

“I know! I’m trying to convince them that you guys aren’t a threat, but they seem scared.” Steven began fidgeting with his shirt. “We want them to get to know you all. We don’t think it’d be a good idea for you to show up in person, but maybe we can make a video and show it to them later.” Steven explained. 

“I suppose that could help.” Pearl replied. “Let’s do it.”

After a couple of reshoots, Steven was happy with the video they had made. 

“Great! We better go back. I’ll call if we need you again.” Said Steven. 

“Bye!” The gems waved before going off to the nearest warp pad.

Steven and Greg arrived back at the UN building. 

“I can’t just walk in, can I?” Steven asked.

Greg shrugged. 

“Should I knock?”

“You could try.” Greg responded. 

Before Steven could approach the door, a guard stopped him. 

“This meeting is still in session. You may not enter.” He stated. 

“Well I need to talk to  _ someone _ ! It’s important!” Steven exclaimed.

The guard didn’t respond. 

Steven threw his hands up in defeat. “Are you serious!?” 

He walked back to his dad and they both sat on the bench. 

“I guess we’ll just have to wait.” Said Greg.

30 minutes went by. Steven couldn’t hear anything that was going on in the room. 

_ Wow, those walls are really soundproof. _

Suddenly, the mediator appeared. “Mr. Universe, your presence is requested.” 

_ Yes! _

Steven hopped up and walked with the mediator to another door that opened up to the stage. 

“I have something the committee will want to see. Is there any way to connect my phone to a projector or something?” He asked. 

She didn’t reply. 

A guard stuck out his hand. “No personal devices while the committee is in session, sir.”

_ Ugh. _

The mediator walked up to the podium as Steven sat down. 

“Mr. Universe, the nations of the Security Council have reached a consensus. You are to request that these gems leave the planet Earth within the next month. If they are not gone by then, the nations of the Security Council will take military action.” She announced.

“What? No! Just, wait, let me show you something!” Steven pleaded. 

He ran over to the mediator. “Please, let me show this to them.” Steven asked quietly. 

She paused.

“What is it?” 

“It’s a video of the gems. I think you guys should get a little more familiar with what you’re talking about before you make any major decisions.” Steven explained. 

_ Did that sound passive-agressive? _

She hesitated before turning to the mic. 

“Delegates, Mr. Universe would like to present a video of the Gems. We will proceed with a roll-call vote for this motion.” 

Steven watched as each nation responded with a hesitant, but ultimately resolute ‘for.’. 

_ At least they’re giving it a chance. _

“With unanimous agreement, this motion passes. Mr. Universe will proceed to show us his video.” She announced.

The mediator walked outside to retrieve Steven’s phone. When she came back, she connected it to a laptop on the podium and activated a projector on the ceiling. Once everything was set up, Steven opened up the video and pressed play.

_ “Hello, humans. I’m Pearl. I’m Amethyst. I’m Ruby. And I’m Sapphire. We are known among gems as the Crystal Gems. We have resided on Earth for millenia, defending humanity from extraterrestrial threats and corrupted gems. We’ve seen this planet as our home for a long time now, and we like to think we share the same appreciation for it as you do. We understand your concerns about the new gems that have appeared in Beach City. Rest assured that you do not have to worry. Most of the healed gems have left Earth for other planets, and only a few new gems have arrived. They won’t appear much outside of Beach City. They are not a threat- we are not a threat. We ask that you allow us to stay.” _

The room was silent.

Steven spoke into the mic. 

“The gems are not a threat. They won’t hurt anyone. Please reconsider your decision.” Steven pleaded. The mediator rose. 

“Thank you, Mr. Universe. That will be all.” 

Steven was once again, escorted out of the room. 

“Wait, my phone!” The door shut behind him. 

“So, did they like the video?” Greg asked. 

“I have no idea.” Steven sighed.

About an hour later, Steven was called back inside. “The nations of the Security Council have reached a consensus. The gems are to leave the planet Earth within the next month or the nations of the security council will take military action. This session is closed.” The mediator pounded a gavel. 

“What? No!” Steven ran towards the mic. “You have to reconsider!” Steven practically begged as two guards came after him, dragging him out of the room. 

The room got louder as the delegates began talking and packing up their things to leave. With every inch he got closer to the door, his despair multiplied. He thought about what his dad had said. 

_ We’re at their mercy. _

Steven hated that it had come to this.

“You don’t understand!” He wrestled himself out of the guards’ grip and ran to the mic. “You won’t win!” 

The room fell silent. 

“The gems- they’re really strong and-and really smart. They have powers that far outmatch any of your weapons.” 

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. But he was desperate. Yes, the Diamonds had agreed to stop colonizing, but if  _ humans  _ were the ones to attack, he wouldn’t put it above them to fight back… aggressively _. _

He pulled up a video on his phone Ronaldo had taken when Blue and Yellow Diamond had come to retrieve the cluster. It was blurry and only captured about 12 seconds of the event, but it was what he had.

“The gems aren’t going to hurt the Earth. But they do want to live here, at least, some of them do. If you attack, they will respond, and it won’t end well.” 

Steven was filled with dread at the implications of what he had just said. The room was silent and Steven was again, escorted out of the room.

He exited with tears in his eyes and ran over to hug his dad. “I tried. I really tried.” 

Steven felt numb for the rest of the day. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep. He thought about calling the gems, but he didn’t know how they would respond. 

_ After everything I went through with the Diamonds…  _


	6. Upon Reconsideration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The UN Security Council meets the gems.

The next morning passed and Steven was driven back to the UN building for another meeting. Apparently another session had been called at the last minute. Steven made his way into the room. All the delegates from the previous day were present. After formalities were over, the mediator spoke. 

“The nations of the Security Council have reached a new consensus. The gems may continue to reside in the state of Delmarva, United States of America.” 

_ Thank goodness. _

“However, the Security Council requests to meet with the gems shown in Mr. Universe’s video in person. Mr. Universe, a helicopter is on its way to Beach City. Please notif-”

“There’s no need!” Steven interrupted before running to the podium. “I cannot thank you enough for reconsidering. I’ll get the gems as soon as possible.” 

Steven ran out the door and asked his dad for his phone. “They wanna talk to the gems!” Steven shouted with glee. 

“Woah, calm down there, buddy. Do you want me to send a cab to the warp pad?” Greg offered. 

“There’s no time. I’ll just tell them to use Lion.” Steven answered.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. 

“Steven!” Pearl answered.

“Pearl! I need you here. They want to talk to everyone in person. Don’t use the warp pad, it’s too far from our building. I’m gonna tell Connie to send Lion.” 

He hung up and called Connie. 

“Connie, I know you might be busy, but this is an emergency. I need you to send Lion to the gems. They need him.” 

“You got it.” She responded. Steven went outside to wait for the gems. Lion would sense where he was. Well, at least, he hoped he would.

Surely enough, about 5 minutes later, Lion appeared with the gems. 

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Steven waved them inside as he held the door open. The gems entered while Lion went to lay on the lawn. 

“This way.” Steven led them to the back door. As they walked in, looks of fascination appeared on everyone’s faces. The mediator stared for several moments, before clearing her throat. 

“Mr. Universe, would you like to introduce us to your… companions?” She asked, removing the mic from the podium and handing it over to Steven. 

“Of course. Delegates, these are the gems. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.” The room filled with whispers. He heard one delegate mutter to his assistant. 

“But there were four gems in the video-” 

“Oh, right!” He laughed and turned to Garnet. “Could you?” Garnet unfused. “And this is Ruby and Sapphire.” He added. 

“Good afternoon.” Sapphire greeted with a bow. 

Ruby gave a small wave. 

They fused again. 

“They prefer staying fused as Garnet.” Steven explained. 

The entire room was in shock.

The mediator took the microphone from Steven. “If it's alright, we have prepared some questions for you… gems.” 

They nodded. 

“Where are you from?” Instead of handing the mic directly to Pearl, she handed the mic over to Steven. She glanced back and forth between Steven and Pearl. 

“Oh.” Steven realized what she wanted. He handed the mic to Pearl.

“Well, as a species we originate from Homeworld, a planet roughly 65,000 light years away from Earth. Individually, however, we come from many different planets. Ruby, Sapphire, and I come from Homeworld. Amethyst, however, comes from Earth.” 

Amethyst beamed at the audience. 

The audience was still in shock from Garnet’s previous stunt, so it took them a bit to process what Pearl had said. The mediator grabbed another microphone as it became clear to her there was going to be a lot of back and forth. 

“Why did your species express an interest in Earth?” She asked. 

“Well, the temperature and pressure inside the crusts and mantles of planets as well as its contents provide an ideal environment and a multitude of resources for our kind to create new gems. Earth was one of those planets.” Pearl elaborated. 

“And how many new gems were made here?” 

“Only about a thousand. The rebellion began relatively early on in gem production.” 

“Were those the gems that became, as you say, corrupted?” 

“No. Before the Diamond attack, some of the gems made on Earth were sent off-planet. In addition, older gems, like myself, were sent to Earth from other planets. Not all of the corrupted gems were made on Earth.” 

“What desire do you have to stay on Earth now?” Pearl was not expecting a question like that. 

“Well, Garnet, Amethyst, and I have lived on Earth for thousands of years. We think of Beach City- this planet- as our home.” She explained.

No response. 

Garnet grabbed the mic from Pearl. “...Not to mention, there are still some corrupted gems that we haven’t been able to heal yet. We made a promise to keep them from hurting humans, so we haven’t finished our job yet.” She added. 

_ Nice. _

“From what Mr. Universe explained to us about the rebellion, it seems that Earth was a target for the gem empire for an extended period of time. Is there a possibility that gems may still harbor anti-Earth sentiments?” 

_ Yikes. _

Garnet didn’t say anything. Pearl began fidgeting with her jacket. Amethyst’s eyes shot back and forth between the two of them, before jumping up and grabbing the mic from Garnet. 

“We, along with Steven, made the effort to go directly to the highest level of gem government to ensure the safety of this planet. The gem empire is not a threat against the Earth.” Pearl, Garnet, and Steven stared at Amethyst, impressed by the eloquence of her answer.

...And then she kept talking. “We can’t guarantee that there aren’t individual gems who have some personal gripes with this planet, though, especially with the war and all that. But they are  _ super  _ minor threats and if we stay, we can deal with them.” 

Steven screamed internally. 

She wasn’t wrong- after all, Jasper had only been pleasant for about 15 minutes before she stormed out of the fountain and slammed several trees to the ground- but Amethyst didn’t have to mention that! 

The room got loud- the delegates’s voices ridden with concern. The mediator pounded a gavel multiple times until the room quieted down. Pearl grabbed the mic from Amethyst. 

“What she means to say is that not all gems are fully updated on the changes that have been made to the gem empire since our visit to Homeworld.”

_ Not! Helping! _

Garnet snatched the mic from Pearl. 

“Since our visit to Homeworld, gem government and society have undergone some major changes. Some of these changes are still underway and have not been fully implemented yet. Rest assured, though, that  _ all  _ gems have been made aware of the Earth’s standing as an independent planet. No harm to the Earth will be tolerated by gem society.” 

_ That was better.  _

After a few more questions, the mediator finally concluded the session.

“Thank you for your time.” She said

Several guards approached Steven and the gems to escort them out of the room.

“Amethyst!” Pearl hissed once they got outside. 

“What!?” Amethyst responded.

“We cAn’t gUAraNTeE thAt soMe geMs woN’t haVe perSonAl griPEs wiTh tHis pLAnEt.” She mimicked, albeit poorly. 

“I was just being hon-” 

“Guys! How did it go!?” Greg interrupted. 

“Amethyst! Those humans are fragile right now. You can’t say things like that.” Said Garnet. 

“Well, it’s not like Pearl made it any better!” Amethyst argued. 

“Don’t turn this on me, I was trying to fix  _ your  _ mistake.” Pearl retorted. 

Steven watched as they continued to argue before turning to his dad. 

“It was going alright, I think. Amethyst may have said something that made them nervous, though. So now we don't know what's going to happen.” He said. 

“Hmm… Well, worrying won’t make us find out any sooner. How about we go for a walk?” Greg asked. 

“I don’t know, dad. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out in public.” He responded. 

“Alright. Well, I think I’m gonna grab a hot dog.” Greg pointed to a food truck a couple blocks from the building. 

“You want one?” Greg asked. 

“Yeah, sure.” Steven replied.

Amethyst ran over. “Get me one too!”

About an hour and a half later, the mediator came out of the room.

“The presence of Steven Universe, the Garnet, the Amethyst, and the Pearl are requested.”

They followed her back into the room. 

“The delegates have come to a consensus. Gems will be allowed to reside in the state of Delmarva under the following conditions: All gems must be accounted for and logged into an internationally accessible database for non-human intelligent beings. All gems residing on Earth must be educated on human laws and customs. The capture and restoration of all remaining corrupted gems must be a priority. The presence of gems must be made known to the international public...” 

As the mediator continued to list the conditions under which they would allow gems to reside on Earth, Steven let out a sigh of relief. 

_ Thank goodness they changed their minds _ . 

“Lastly, we request that the gem structure known as the “Sky Arena” be destroyed.”

“What? Why?” Steven asked.

One of the delegates stood up from across the room.

“It interferes with flight traffic!”


	7. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the gems prepare for a live international announcement.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Said Amethyst once they got outside.

“Yes, I’m glad that’s been resolved. They sure had a lot of requests, though.” Pearl said before turning to Garnet. “I suppose we should go deactivate the Sky Arena now.”

“But where are we gonna train?” Steven asked.

“We’ll find somewhere else. Not that we really  _ need  _ to train. We’re not a target anymore, Steven.” Pearl responded.

“Oh yeah!” Steven laughed. 

_ How did I forget that? _

“I get it. It’s only been three weeks since we left Homeworld.” Garnet added.

“Well, Steven’s not totally wrong. We still need to round up the rest of the corrupted gems. So there’s still  _ some  _ fighting.’” Amethyst argued.

“Yes. That’s true. But how are we going to find the rest of them? We’ve been going after them for millennia and still haven’t found them all.” Pearl asked.

“Maybe Homeworld has something. Like a gem detector!” Amethyst suggested.

Steven did not want to go back there anytime soon.

“Garnet, you’re the one who usually sees them. Can’t you do like a…. hyper-future-vision thing and find them all at once?” Steven asked, knowing the answer was probably no, but going for it anyways.

“Of course she can’t or we would have bubbled them a long time ago.” Pearl replied. 

Garnet was silent. 

“R-right?” She looked at Garnet.

Garnet laughed. “No, I cannot do ‘hyper-future-vision’. I think Amethyst is onto something, though. We should see if Homeworld has tech that could help us.” Garnet replied.

Steven shuddered. 

“Steven, it’s alright if you don’t want to go back. You can stay and we’ll go.” Garnet offered.

“Or we could ask Peridot. She knows the most about gem tech.” Amethyst added.

Steven didn’t want to go back but he felt bad sending the gems on their own.

“No, it’s fine.” He said.

By this point most of the delegates had left. The mediator came out of the room. 

“Mr. Universe. As per our stipulations, we ask that all human citizens be made aware of the presence of Gems on Earth. We would like to invite you and your fellow Gems to participate in a press conference 3 days from now at 11 AM in this very building.”

“Of course.” Steven answered. 

_ Looks like I’m gonna be here a little longer. _

Two days passed and Steven felt much calmer. He still didn’t like what it took to get the humans to change their minds, but it was necessary if it meant preventing a war. The idea still lingered, though.

Steven wanted to go back home with the gems, but the mediator who he had finally started calling Ms. Marcella, needed him to stay so they could figure out exactly what he would say at the press conference.

“We believe it is best to leave out information regarding gem colonization and the rebellion. We don’t want to provoke anxiety in any way, we simply want to inform the public of the presence of gems on Earth.”

“Okay. So should I just explain what the gems are?” Steven asked.

“Yes. Well, no. Well, we’d like the gems to do that. We would simply like you to give opening and closing statements.” She explained.

“Oh, okay. Wait, but aren’t people going to wonder how the gems got here? How are we going to do that without explaining colonization?” He asked.

“That’s sensitive information. The public has the right to know that Gems are now living on this planet. That is all.” She replied.

“Oh, um, okay.” Steven wanted to argue, but she probably knew more about this than he did.

“We will create a script for you to read off of during the conference. The gems will receive one too. Do not deviate from the script. We do not want to reveal any information that could cause unnecessary international panic.”

_ International panic? _ Again, Steven was reminded of how crazy this must all seem to humans. He remembered how Connie had reacted towards gem stuff at the beginning of their friendship. Of course, she thought it was super cool, but she was still shocked by it all.

“I understand. I’ll tell the gems.”

“Oh, and one more thing. We would prefer if the Garnet were separated for the duration of the conference.” She added.

“Why?” Steven asked.

“The Ruby and the Sapphire are not as intimidating as the Garnet.”

“What!? Garnet isn’t intimidating!” He argued.

She looked around at the other people in the room. “Yes, they are.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Steven thought about it for a moment. 

Garnet  _ was _ , like, 8 feet tall. And had giant gauntlets, not that she wore them all the time. Her cold demeanor didn’t help her much, either. He remembered when she yelled at him for refusing to give her Lapis’ mirror.

“I can ask her, but I can’t promise she’ll agree.” He responded.

Steven was allowed to go back home that night.

“Guuuuyysss!” Steven yelled after warping in. No one was home. He went outside and saw Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl on the beach with some of the newly healed gems.  _ Oh, yeah, I guess they should know about what happened too. _ Steven walked down to the group.

“For the next couple of weeks, we think it would be best if you all stayed in Beach City, so don’t use any warp pads. That’s all for now. We’ll let you know if anything else happens.” Pearl explained. 

When the other gems saw Steven walking over, they stood up and gave a Diamond salute with a unanimous “my Diamond.”

_ I need to get them to stop doing that.  _

“At ease.” He said.

“Hey, Steven.” Said Amethyst.

“Hey. I need to talk to everyone inside the house.” He announced.

“So here’s the deal. We aren’t supposed to talk about  _ everything  _ during the conference so they’re gonna write scripts for each of us to follow. All we have to do is read off of them.”

“Fair enough.” Said Amethyst.

Steven took a deep breath and looked at Garnet. 

“They also would prefer if Ruby and Sapphire were there.”

“Wha-? Why?” Pearl asked.

“This is big news for humans. They said they don’t want to cause a panic, and that might be easier if you guys look less… intimidating.” He explained.

“I am  _ not  _ intimidating.” Garnet responded.

“Hey, why aren’t they worried about me? I’m super intimidating!” Amethyst exclaimed as she shape-shifted into the Puma. 

“Amethyst, stop it. This is serious.” Pearl glared at her.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Garnet.” Steven clarified.

Garnet hesitated. “It’s fine.”

“Okay, great. I’ll let them know.”


	8. Lights, Camera, Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the gems announce their presence on Earth in an international broadcast.

The next morning, Steven and the Gems headed back to Empire City.

“We’ve prepared a script for each of you based off of the meetings we’ve had so far. Please familiarize yourselves with them during the next hour and let us know if you’d like to make any changes.”

“Thank you, Ms. Marcella.” Steven responded, taking the papers from her hand.

Steven looked for his own paper before handing the rest to Pearl, who then handed out the remaining papers. Garnet had two different sheets. 

“Look like I’ll be unfusing a bit early.” She said before separating.

Everyone turned to look at them. He heard someone mutter to Ms. Marcella. “I still don’t get how that works.”

Steven turned to his script. He was to introduce himself and the gems, allow them to speak, then finish off the announcement.

“I guess we should practice.” Said Ruby.

“Good idea. Steven?” Pearl turned to him.

Steven cleared his throat.

“Good morning. My name is Steven Universe. I am a resident of the United States. I am also a half-human, half-alien hybrid.” Steven paused. __

_Alien?_ _Hybrid?_

“More specifically, I am a half-human, half- _ gem _ hybrid. Today I would like to introduce you all to some of these gems. This is a Pearl, an Amethyst, a Ruby, and a Sapphire.” 

_ Yeah, I’m gonna have to talk to them about that. _

“Good day, citizens of the Earth. I am a- I am Pearl and a member of the alien species known as gems. We have resided on the Earth for several years now” _ -that’s an understatement-  _ “although it has only ever been the four of us, until recently.” She turned to Amethyst.

“Oh, yeah. My turn.” She cleared her throat. “Approximately one month ago, several new gems decided to join us to reside on the Earth as well.” She turned to Ruby.

“Do not worry. They, along with us, are not seeking anything more than a place to live.” She turned to Sapphire.

“We, along with the United Nations, have spent the past week working deliberately to reach an agreement that will ensure the peaceful coexistence of humans and gems.” Sapphire added.

“The number of gems currently residing on the Earth is limited and will continue to be so. That being said, the chances of any one individual encountering a gem are very small. We thank you for listening, and remember that we and your leaders are working hard to maintain peace on this planet.” Steven concluded.

“Well, that was a lot shorter than I was expecting.” Said Ruby.

“Yeah. They left a lot of stuff out.” Steven added.

“Well, I’m not complaining. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can go back home and finally relax.” Amethyst added.

“Well, I don’t think we need to make many changes. I’ll ask them to stop with the whole ‘a Ruby, a Sapphire’ thing, though.” Pearl added.

“Maybe I shou-”

Pearl had already walked over to Ms. Marcella before Steven could finish his sentence.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

Ms. Marcella turned around, startled when she saw Pearl standing barely a foot away from her. “First of all, we’d like to thank you for writing these scripts for us. However, we do request some minor changes. While there are technically more than one of each type of gem, we still use them as names. Is it alright if we remove these articles?” Pearl asked.

Ms. Marcella stared at Pearl for a moment before composing herself.

“That is fine.” She responded, handing Pearl a pen.

Pearl returned to Steven and the others to correct their papers.

“Should we go again?” Steven asked.

After a few more rounds of practicing, they were ready. 15 minutes left. The room was much busier now. An international broadcast couldn’t be easy to pull off.

Pearl kneeled in front of Steven, adjusting his suit. This was a formal setting, so Greg and Pearl had taken Steven to buy something more fitting for the occasion than his typical t-shirt. Steven had reminded them of the tux he used for Garnet’s wedding, but apparently that was considered “party attire” and not appropriate for a presentation. He had never known these rules were even a thing. 

Steven and the gems were given a small mic to clip to their clothing. Steven clipped his on the fold of his shirt collar.

“Uh, Steven? How do we tell them that our clothes are, like, glued to our bodies?” Amethyst asked.

Steven watched as Ruby examined the clip, unsure of what to do with it.

“Excuse me, sir. The gems can’t use these. Would you happen to have something they could hold instead?” The man nodded and gave each of the gems a small hand-held microphone.

Steven was motioned to a podium. It took him a moment to adjust to the lights that were shining in his face. There was a step ladder in front of him, which pretty much everyone was going to have to use, except for Pearl. The gems were told to stand next to him in the order that they would speak. The camera man started counting down from 10.

Steven was visibly nervous, until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“You’ll be okay, Steven.” 

Pearl’s voice always calmed him down.

The camera-man gave him the signal to start talking.

“Good morning. My name is Steven Universe. I am a resident of the United States. I am also a half-human, half-alien hybrid. More specifically, I am a half-human, half- _ gem _ hybrid. Today I would like to introduce you all to some of the gems. This is Pearl, Amethyst, Ruby, and Sapphire.” He gestured to each gem accordingly before stepping off and allowing Pearl to speak.

“Good day, citizens of the Earth. I am Pearl and a member of the alien species known as gems. We have resided on the Earth for several years now, although it has only ever been the four of us”-she motioned to the rest of the gems- “until recently.” She stepped away. Amethyst climbed onto the step ladder.

“Approximately one month ago, several new gems decided to join us to reside on the Earth as well.” She stepped off. Ruby climbed to the highest step.

“Do not worry, they, along with us, are not seeking anything more than a place to live.” She stepped off. 

Sapphire floated up the steps.

Steven winced. Even though the podium was blocking the view, her ascent was still way too smooth not to be noticed. 

_ Probably should have warned her not to do that. _

“We, along with the United Nations, have spent the past week working deliberately to reach an agreement that will ensure the peaceful coexistence of humans and Gems.” Sapphire added. She descended, allowing Steven to step up again.

“The number of gems currently residing on the Earth is limited and will continue to be so. That being said, the chances of any one individual encountering a gem are small. We thank you for listening, and remember that we and your leaders are working hard to maintain peace on this planet.” After a few moments of silence, the camera was shut off and Steven was motioned to step off.

The room filled with nervous chatter.

“So, like, can we go now?” Amethyst asked.

Ms. Marcella walked over to the group.

“We sincerely appreciate your cooperation.” She thanked, but not without a quick glance at Sapphire.

“No problem. Will that be all?” Pearl asked.

“Yes. We will continue to be in contact with you all regarding the other stipulations in the resolution passed by the UN in our previous meeting. Have a nice week.”


	9. One at a Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven is greeted with a large group of somewhat angry, but mostly confused crowd of people upon returning to Beach City.

Once Steven and the gems warped back to the beach house, Steven ran up the stairs and flopped onto his bed.

“I’m going to take a very long nap, so please don’t wake me up.” He announced.

“Aww, yeah! Count me in!” Said Amethyst, grabbing one of Steven’s pillows.

“No worries, Steven. You’ve earned it.” Pearl responded.

Garnet and Pearl went into the temple as Steven drifted off to sleep.

When Steven woke up, he wasn’t home anymore. Instead, he was inside a void, similar to the one he entered when he projected himself into watermelon Stevens. He looked for anything notable in his surroundings, but only saw the faint twinkle of stars scattered around him.

Then he heard a voice. 

No, two voices.

_ “So it was all for nothing?” _

_ “Of course not.” _

_ “Then what was it for?” _

_ “Freedom. Peace. Independ-” _

_ “No!” _

Silence.

_ “You don’t get it. They gave me hope. She gave me hope. That’s how I kept going.” _

_ “Well, then.”  _ A pause.  _ “Isn’t that what matters? You’ve made it. We’re here now.” _

Silence _. _

_ “I suppose.” _

Eventually, Steven woke up. The house was empty. Even Amethyst had left, her pillow on the ground, with a slight indentation where her head had been.

Steven turned to his alarm clock. It was 8 PM.

He got up and looked inside the temple. 

No one. 

He went outside.

Just like a few days ago, there was a crowd. But this time, it was massive. There were gems on one side and humans on the other, divided by a glowing yellow curtain right by the turn of the hill. He saw Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, and Bismuth near the curtain, with Peridot fidgeting with one side of it and Lapis holding the other about 15 feet past the shoreline. Most of the residents of Beach City- as well as a mass of people Steven didn’t recognize- were on the other side.

Steven ran over to inspect the situation.

“Pearl, what’s going on?”

“Well, after you fell asleep, people started showing up outside. You seemed so exhausted and Garnet insisted we could handle it, but the situation started escalating. More people started showing up and the gems started coming here too. We told them to wait on the other side of the beach and managed to push everyone else back. The crowd has settled since then but we still don’t think we can take the curtain down.”

Steven looked at the gems behind him. They were on the other end of the beach, most of them sitting on the sand. Steven ran over to them.

“What happened?”

They all began talking at once. Steven could only make out a few words and phrases.

“Hey, guys, could you stop for a second?”

They kept talking.

“I can’t understand anything anyone’s saying.”

They got even louder.

“EVERYONE STOP TALKING!” Bismuth shouted.

Steven jumped back. He hadn’t seen her follow him over.

“Thank you, Bismuth.” Steven turned back to the gems.

“Is Centi- I mean- is Nephrite, here?”

“Hello, Steven.” Nephrite stood up near one of the rocks by the cliff before making her way over to the front.

She was one of the few gems who didn’t treat him like a Diamond.

“Nephrite, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ll explain what happened to us. Ever since Pearl told us not to use the warp pads, my crew and I have spent our time inspecting the reefs in the ocean near your town. Today, when we finished, we walked onto the shore by the human water-vehicle docking station. Some of the humans on the dock saw us and started asking questions. They seemed upset and dissatisfied with our responses. We thought it would be best to refer them to you and the Crystal Gems so we started walking over to your home but there was a crowd there already. Eventually we were told to stay here while your companions addressed the situation.”

Steven looked around at the other gems. 

“Is this what happened to you all too?”

“We were in the woods!” “We were at the entertainment center!” “I was looking through the disposal containers!” More and more gems began to share their stories.

Once again, Steven found himself lost in a sea of words.

“LITSEN!” Bismuth shouted.

The gems settled down again.

_ Thank goodness she’s here. _

“Is anyone hurt?” Steven asked.

The gems looked around at each other. No one said anything.

“Great. Stay here, I’ll be back.”

Steven walked back over to Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst.

“I’m going to the other side.” Steven announced.

“No way, dude. We’re  _ not  _ taking this thing down!” Amethyst responded.

“Peridot! Is this the same kind of light curtain used for holding cells on gem ships?” He asked.

“Yeah.” She replied.

“Then I can go through it.” Steven said as he began walking towards the curtain.

Amethyst pulled Steven back before he got too close.

“Dude! You can’t let  _ them  _ know that!” Amethyst pointed to the group of people waiting on the other side.

_ Oh. Right. _

Steven opted to jump over the curtain instead.

The crowd turned to Steven and began barraging him with questions.

Steven couldn’t hear a single thing.

He saw Lars and Sadie sitting at a table outside of the Big Donut.

“Laaars!” 

“Hey, Steven.” Lars greeted.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Well, within the past 6 hours the entire town has been made aware of the existence of aliens in Beach City.” Sadie responded.

“And they want answers.” Lars added.

“Answers to what? Steven asked.

“Beats me.” Lars added. “I’m just here to watch the show.”

“Where are the Off-Colors?”

“I told them to stay on the ship.”

“Good call. Have you seen any other gems around?”

“No, I think your friends got them all rounded up. Well, at least the ones that were in town.”

“Okay, grea-”

_ Jasper. _

“I HAVE TO GO!”


	10. Well, Now You Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven visits Jasper in the woods and tries to do some damage control back in Beach City.

Jasper moved around a lot, but she seemed to have taken a liking to the higher regions of the forest, although, “taken a liking to” was a bit generous. “Willing to tolerate” was a better way to put it. She didn’t like plant life but her desire to stay hidden seemed to win out. The forest did make for great cover.

“Jasper!” Steven shouted.

No response.

“Jasper!”

Nothing.

Steven kept calling her name as he trekked through leaves, dirt, and broken branches.

“Jasper! I’m not here to ask you to come to town or anything, I just need to know where you are!”

Steven heard the sound of a twig snap.

_ She’s here. _

He took a deep breath.

“JASPER!” He shouted.

“ARGHHHH! SHUT UP!” Jasper responded.

Steven walked towards the source of her voice until Jasper was in sight. She was sitting on a log holding a stick. There was writing in the dirt.

It was at this moment that Steven really, really wished he knew how to read gem glyph.

She threw a blanket on the ground after noticing him staring.

“Where’d you get that?” Steven asked.

“I found it near a group of humans in the woods.”

_ Campers.  _

_ She stole it from a group of campers. _

Steven sighed.

“Look, I know you don’t like talking to me, but I need to let you know what’s been going on.” 

Jasper didn’t respond.

“Today we told humans about gems. Like, all humans… across the whole planet. This is new information to them, so we’re not really sure how they’re going to react.” He paused. “Just, be careful.”

Jasper laughed.

“Do you really think I’d be scared of humans? Don’t flatter yourselves.”

“Jasper! I need you to take this seriously. I know you’re able to defend yourself, and, honestly, I think it’s more likely that they’ll annoy you than attack you if they end up finding your hideout. But if anything happens, just know you can come down to the temple and talk to us.”

No response.

“I’ll see you later.” He finished.

When Steven returned to the beach, the crowd was smaller. Most of the remaining people were sitting down, waiting for the light curtain to come down. It was a funny sight, really. They had no idea that the curtain posed absolutely no threat to them.

Steven thought that his presence might energize the crowd again, so he decided to go up the hill and jump down onto the deck of his house. He made his way over to the crystal gems.

“Hey, man, where’d you go?” Amethyst asked.

“Oh, you know, just went to check up on the grumpy orange forest guardian.”

“Oh. Is she alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, she’s fine. So what’s been going on here?”

“Well, Pearl’s been trying to answer their questions, but some of them are still here. I don’t really get what they want.”

“I don’t think  _ they  _ even know what they want. This is really new to them.” Steven elaborated.

Steven walked towards the curtain.

“I’m assuming you all watched the broadcast this morning. I’m sure you’re all curious about the gems, but we really can’t have a bunch of people hovering around our home like this. If you have questions, I’d be happy to answer what I can, but only if you ask in a calm and orderly manner.”

Several hands shot up. Steven called on one of them.

“Why are they here?”

_ Did he not watch the broadcast? _

“As I said this morning, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet have been here for a while now. You’ve probably seen them around. The other gems are new to this area, but don’t worry, this is most of them. They’re not going to take over the town or anything.”

“How can they breathe underwater?”

_ Um... _

“Well, they don’t really breathe… like, at all, so they can… stay...underwater?”

“Are their gemstones like their brains?”

“I mean, I guess you could think of it that way.”

_ These questions are really random. _

“Everything you need to know about us was shared in the broadcast. Now leave!” Garnet demanded as she summoned her gauntlets.

“I knew it! They’re gonna kill us!” Someone shouted.

The crowd got loud again.

“No one is going to hurt anyone!” Steven shouted.

“If these aliens are living in our town, we have every right to know about them.”

Steven didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Well, you do. So what do you want now?”

They all looked around at each other. No one gave a proper answer. 

Steven sighed.

“How long do you think they’ll be here?” Amethyst asked. 

“I have no idea.” Steven replied.

“Steven, we can wait them out. You should get some rest. Maybe spend the night with Greg.” Garnet suggested.

“No, I think I should stick around.” He responded. 

Steven walked over to the gems on the other side of the beach.

“I’m really sorry, everyone. Looks like you’re going to have to stay here for a while.”


End file.
